House Passes Feds’ Budget Bill Following Lengthy Tory Filibuster

The Parliament Buildings in Ottawa in a file photo. Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times

MPs in the House of Commons have passed the Liberal government’s Budget Implementation Act following a filibuster by the federal Conservatives that lasted several weeks.

The NDP and Liberals voted against the opposing Tories and Bloc Quebecois to pass Bill C-47 through the House of Commons by a vote of 177-146, sending it to the Senate chamber.

The omnibus budget bill has been a source of contention between the Liberals and Conservatives, as the latter says it amounts to introducing “$60 billion of inflationary deficits” at a time when inflation and interest rates are running historically high.

The Conservatives began delaying the bill’s passage through a parliamentary committee in mid-May and continued to do so once it proceeded to debate in the House.

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre gave a speech that lasted for nearly four hours on the evening of June 7 to prevent MPs from voting on the budget’s passing.

On the morning of June 8, Poilievre said his party would’ve been willing to work all through the summer to rework the budget.

“I’m calling on him [Prime Minister Justin Trudeau] to do the honorable thing, to put aside his pride and his personal ego and cancel this budget,” Poilievre told reporters on June 8.

“He should also cancel his summer vacation,” he added, saying that Conservatives are “prepared to work all summer long to rewrite a budget that balances budgets in order to bring down inflation and interest rates.”

The Conservative leader has called upon the government to cut all deficit spending measures from the budget and to cancel any new carbon tax hikes.

Government House Leader Mark Holland said Poilievre’s criticism of the Budget Implementation Act was not specific enough and asked the Tory leader to point out what spending measures he wanted the Liberals to cut.

“He’s saying that he doesn’t support the measures in the budget, but what doesn’t he support?” Holland told reporters in Ottawa on June 8. “Does he not support dental care? Does he not support the grocery rebate?”

The Liberal government’s 2023 budget projects that the new federal dental care plan will cost around $13 billion over the next five years.

The grocery rebate will cost taxpayers around $2.5 billion, providing Canadians in a certain low-income bracket with a one-time payment this July ranging between $200 and $300 for single Canadians without children and seniors, while eligible couples with two children will get around $470.

Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.